The inherent advantages of rotary engines over piston engines has been increasingly recognized in recent times. Nevertheless, the piston engine has remained the standard of the automotive industry mainly because of its overall superior performance characteristics. However, the need for a lighter weight, more efficient and less complicated engine continues to exist and this need has become more urgent due to the worldwide energy crisis.
Accordingly, it is the objective of this invention to provide a more practical and economical rotary engine which is free of many of the known difficulties encountered with such engines in the prior art. More particularly, according to the invention, the means for connecting the single output shaft of the engine with its two-stage rotors has been greatly simplified and results in fewer parts and reduced power loss and higher speed rotor movement in the engine. The rotor seals have been improved and cooling of the engine has been simplified so that the need for coolant pumps and radiator means no longer exists. The cold nature of evaporated fuel is taken advantage of for direct cooling of the two-stage rotors at their centers. Engine heat, which would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere, is thus put to a useful purpose, and no extra equipment is necessary for the cooling operation.
The present engine is very compact and lightweight and also extremely sturdy and durable so as to give long trouble-free performance. Since the rotor chambers are free of abrupt profile changes or humps, the engine can turn much faster and the power impulses are not reduced. The three-sided rotors employed in the engine produce smooth power at the output shaft of the two-stage engine, the power at the first stage being boosted or increased by power from the smaller secondary stage.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.